I didn’t know whether to go “Dude!” or “Sweet!” when I saw this! This is a movie poster made by Loïc (it was a school project, where he had to make a movie poster based on a favorite book). Isn’t this awesome? I love it!
Fan Art: Lorelai!
This is a submission from Hriju! It’s Lorelai, a friend of Mina’s from the first book. 
She looks quite cheeky, which is very Lorelai!
IMPORTANT NOTICE! Regarding iPad Contest…Please Read!
If you have entered or plan to enter the iPad contest, please read this entire message.
It has come to my attention that a number of people have incorrectly received points in the iPad Contest by posting YouTube videos that did not meet the contest requirements. I at first thought this was restricted to a few videos but have since figured out that it is more widespread than I had originally thought.
The contest rules clearly state that entrants can receive “200 entries for posting a YouTube video about my books.” This was for a couple of reasons: 1) that the videos be relevant to the promotion of my books (after all, that’s why authors do contests like this), and 2) that the videos not simply be “contest spam” because I truly do abhor spam (as it also states on the contest page).
I had viewed a random sampling of videos during the contest period and found some really cool submissions about the books (thanks, Guys!) but (and this is my own fault) I did not keep up with viewing each of the videos because I got caught up in launching a new website (ReaditandLaugh.com) and taking care of a very sick three year old (The Max, who had over a 103 fever off and on for over a week but is finally now starting to feel better). I discovered yesterday that many of the posted videos did not mention the books (or even myself as an author or anything at all other than “iPad”) at all and were pretty much just very “spammy” videos.
I want to be very transparent here because I feel that everyone entering the contest deserves that. I also want to be as fair as possible, especially to those people that truly earned the 200 points each for YouTube videos that followed the contest rules. I just wish I had realized this sooner so that I could have responded more quickly. Here is what I am doing, effective immediately:
- I am going to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that anyone who posted a video that did NOT adhere to the contest guidelines (namely, talking about the books), did so through a misunderstanding of the contest rules and award them 25 points per video (NOT the 200 each that videos that *did* adhere to the guidelines get). This is also intended to acknowledge that, while the videos did not meet the contest guidelines, they did take work on the part of the person who created them.
- I have modified the automatic awarding of YouTube video points to 25 per video so that any newly submitted videos can only earn that many UNLESS YOU EMAIL ME and I manually review the video, confirm it meets the guidelines, and manually award you the remaining 175 points.
- I am extending the contest end date to November 1,2011 at 11:59 PM GMT to allow myself the time to go through all the submissions (which is no easy task, as the contest software does a lot of things automatically behind the scenes). Point totals may change during this time as I go through and adjust the points according to this new schedule.
I apologize for this misunderstanding and hope you will bear with me as I get this sorted out. If you have any questions, please email me and I will do my best to answer them. In the meantime, everyone now has an extra day to enter and qualify for the contest. Good luck to you!
Serena! (from Lorna)
Absolutely love this fan drawing of Serena too! This one is from Lorna…she says:
This is Serena from the end of the first chapter of Sucks to Be Me, when she’s saying “I wouldn’t mind munching on his neck myself.”
Pictures, Covers, Flash Fiction, Oh My!
Woot! Here’s a few more extra special cool things from fans that have submitted them for the extra entries in the iPad giveaway (good luck to ‘em!)!
This is from Sarah, and is a picture of Mina from the end of book one…
And here’s two cool things from Hriju…the first is a drawing and the next is a flash fiction piece from Aubrey’s point of view (someday I might have to go there myself!)
Sucks To Be Me: Aubrey’s POV
Myth: It’s dangerous when vampires wipe memories.
Truth: Well, duh!!! They are dangerous, but I hope they don’t wipe my memories of Mina, and my modeling career and my education about vampires.
There’s a girl in the school I go to in California. Her name is Mina. Even though I am an ultra cute boy, she doesn’t notice me. She is always with her best friend, Serena. I never had any intention of stalking her, but I couldn’t help it since I like her so much, so I disguised myself and stalked her. She never found that she was being stalked. I know where she goes every day.
One day, she went home and went somewhere else. She usually never came out of her house after school was over, but then she started going there every day, and I was behind her every time. My modeling work was only on weekends, so it was fine. I know its creepy stalking someone, but I can’t help it. I watched her every day. When she went into the building and I was watching her, I found out it was vampire classes. So cool, but what the heck was she doing here?
I suddenly realized something. This was my once in a lifetime chance to be a vampire, or to meet one. I really love vampire stuff and I always believed they existed somewhere. I went in and everyone turned around to stare at me. I heard some girl say, “So hot”. I was flattered. Well, I am not that popular model, so people don’t recognize me in a first glance wherever I go.
“Aubrey?” Mina and George said at the same time.
“Hi.” I said lamely.
“You? Who are you?”A woman barked from the front of the room. I guessed she was the teacher.
“I’m Aubrey. Um…I was wondering if I could join.” The class started whispering when they heard me saying that.
“How old are you?”
“16.”
“How did you know about this?” I had to make up a quick story. I can’t tell them I was stalking Mina.
“Research and stuff. I would really love to join. I promise I’ll keep it a secret.”
“You know you have to pay $500?” the woman asked
“I’ll pay. “
“Ok sit down.” I think they don’t really think about parents’ permission since they don’t want anyone to find out about them.
We learned history. Boring. I looked at Mina and she didn’t seem interested and she was staring at George. WHAT THE HECK?
Weeks passed by, and I tried to get close to Mina, but unfortunately, she started dating George. I was heartbroken. If only I had told her before.
I stopped going to the classes. I knew they were gonna wipe my memories. I knew it was dangerous, or I could lose all of my memories. So, I bought a diary. I put my picture on one side and wrote all about me. I did that for each page. I put a picture of a person and it the next page I wrote about them. I wrote about Mina, modeling and vampires.
I carried with me all the time. Who knows when I might lose my memory? Even if I forget I ever went to vampire classes, I hope I wouldn’t lose Mina, my friends, families, co-workers, employers and my career. The diary was a very important part of my life.
Still Sucks to Be Me Flash Fiction
This is from Sarah and is an entry for the extra points opportunity #5 to win the iPad! Go, Sarah!
Still Sucks to Be Me Flash Fiction POV: Serena 10/27/2011
MYTH: I (Serena) am awesomesauce.
TRUTH: Well, actually that’s true, but sometimes I have to make hard decisions.
Sometimes, it sucks having a best friend who’s a vampire. Like now, for instance. When I actually have the choice to become one myself. I know Mina doesn’t wanna pressure me or anything, and she’s trying not to, but I know she wants me to turn. It’s so easy for her! I mean, her whole family is vampires already. And I know I really really wanted to become a vampire too, but on the other hand, I do kinda sorta love my family (and Nathan. Maybe). A little bit. Even if my mom can be a total *beep* sometimes, I don’t really wanna leave them forever. Forever is such a long time. On the other hand, if I do become a vampire, I can be with my best friend forever, and I know for sure an eternity of Mina+me=tons of fun. We could travel the world together! But man, an eternity? Ugh, this is such a freaking permanent life-changing decision!
Sometimes, it just really sucks to be me.
Thanks, Sarah, that was really awesome! I love it! And now you’ve got an extra 200 points!
Extra Points Opportunity #5! The last one!
Here’s the LAST chance for you to earn extra points/entries towards the iPad I’m giving away at the end of October (and if you haven’t entered already, um, hurry!!)!
The first opportunity (500 points!) was for buying a copy of one of my books during the contest period. The second opportunity (50 points each) was for changing your Facebook and/or Twitter Profile picture. The third opportunity (50 points each) was for posting reviews of either of the Sucks to Be Me books. The fourth opportunity was to read a short story and comment/link it (50 or a 100 points).
This one is FUN. And CREATIVE. And was suggested by a Twitter follower, so you can blame them if you don’t like it. 
To earn this extra points opportunity you can do any or all of the following (200 points each). If you haven’t read the books yet, you can take a look at the sample chapters online and go from there (don’t worry, I won’t be crediting points based on accuracy or anything — this should be fun!)
- Dress up as any one of the characters from Sucks to Be Me or Still Sucks to Be Me, take a picture of yourself, and either post it on Facebook, your blog, Twitter or wherever (or email it to me and I’ll post it in my blog) AND/OR
- Write a flash fan fiction (anywhere between 100 and 500 words) featuring any of the characters or the world of Sucks to Be Me and either post it on Facebook, your blog/tumblr/wherever (or email it to me and I’ll post it) AND/OR
- Draw or create a picture of any of the characters or scenes from the books and either post it on Facebook, your blog, Twitter or wherever (or email it to me and I’ll post it in my blog).
- Create a new cover for either of the books and either post it on Facebook, your blog, Twitter or wherever (or email it to me and I’ll post it in my blog).
Then:
- E-mail me at kim at kimberlypauley dot com to let me know what you’ve done so I can verify it (or to post it).
- Important! Include your contest username in the email so I know who to award the points to!! And please send it ASAP to give me time to award the extra points!
And that’s it! You get 200 extra points for each one you do! Heck, if it’s really incredible, I reserve the right to add extra points.
Sneak Peek: Ian Abbott
This continues the series of Behind the Scenes posts for Cat Girl’s Day Off (coming in Spring 2012!). Ian is the guy that Nat is interested in (okay, she has a total crush on him and has had since the year before). Ian is a junior (Nat is a sophomore), but they are in trigonometry together. Ian’s got a great sense of humor. The Sim version doesn’t have nearly messy enough hair and it’s a bit too reddish, but it was the best I could do. Ian’s name (slightly different spelling) and music taste came from a guy I met in Scotland who plays in a Ska band and is just generally a cool dude.
Don’t forget to check out all the Sneak Peeks!
Sim Ian!
Name: Ian Abbott
Age: 17
Height: Like 5′ 9″ I think. Something like that.
Build: I’m on the skinny side, but I could totally take you down with my rapier wit.
Talent: Making people laugh. Just normal though, not like a “real” Talent like Nat has.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Grey-ish
Ethnicity: A little bit of everything, which basically means nothing interesting. Though I think we’re related to Davy Crockett on my Mom’s side.
Grade: Junior
Best Subject: Definitely not trigonometry
A Brief Interview:
Can you describe yourself in one word?
Wow. Um…funny?
Like funny ha-ha or funny-funny?
Yeah.
Wait. Which is which again?
So what do you think of your friend Natalie being able to talk to cats? Did that surprise you?
Totally crazy! I knew her family all had talents or whatever, but I kind of figured it was more, you know, super power-y like her sisters. It’s cool, though. I don’t know why she hid it for so long. The weirdest thing I’ve got going for me is that I’m double-jointed in my elbows.
What super power would you like to have?
(laughs) The ability to pass trig! No, really, like flying would be really cool. You could get away from it all, floating up above the world. That might be kind of boring after awhile though. Hmmm. Can I get back to you on that?
Bonus!
I also found two pictures on the Internet of guys that are Ian-ish. I don’t know who the guys in the pictures are (I just found ‘em using Google image search and they were on some kind of role playing site, so I have no idea where they came from originally) and I (obviously) don’t own the pictures or have any rights to them (if you do own them or know who does, let me know!). I’m pretty sure the second one is an actor.
Heck, if you know the guys, introduce me! (kidding.) (mostly.) (okay, definitely. I would feel ancient and cougar-y talking to these young hot guys.)
Option 1. This guy is a pretty good fit for Ian, actually.
Option 2. This guy's nose is more Ian-ish and I like the messy hair.
Better than a Lego brick to the eye…
So, just what have I been up to lately? Hmmmm? Lots of things, O somewhat-ignored blog readers. Big things, even.
For one, I came up with an idea for a new website, talked some of my author peeps into going into it with me and Shazam! made a website and launched it. In like a week and a half. Booyah!
I’d like to invite you to take a gander at Read It and Laugh, a brand spankin’ new website dedicated to funny books, funny authors, and funny readers. I hope you’ll take a look! It’s kinda my response to the whole “O woe is me, all YA books are DARK and EVIL now” thing that’s been going around. And those other authors I talked into going along with me? Some seriously funny people. I ain’t kidding. (Plus, you know me. There’s chances to win stuff. Go check out the Funny List, for one).
Let’s see…other than that…
Well, The Max is off school for two weeks for what they call “half-term” here. So my writing time is kinda shot anyway. And now he’s gone and gotten himself some kind of lovely virus and an evil-wicked temperature (103 F or 39.7 C). So there’s that. The poor Max.
I’m not even gonna mention the spit up that accompanies said illness. Not. Gonna. Do. It.
And I joined a gym. Been trying to get back into shape and people, let me tell you, it’s gonna be a LONG haul. But I’m working on it. The gym has a pool too, so I’ve taken The Max swimming a few times (when he was still well and you couldn’t cook hot dogs on his forehead).
And I finally went to an eye doctor and got my eye checked out. This is where the blog post title comes in. See, about 7 or 8 months ago, The Max accidentally got me with a Lego brick right to the eye. He stuck it out the same time I turned to look at him. No chance to blink. Nothing. Lego straight in the eye. Hurt like…well, hurt like a lotta words I don’t want to use. For like an hour. And almost every morning (and sometimes randomly during the day), when I first open my right eye, I feel like someone is stabbing me with a serrated knife. It’s been so long though and it’s so weird that it’s only in the mornings that I was starting to wonder if I was crazy (not my normal crazy, but crazy-crazy).
Turns out it’s perfectly normal. Apparently I have this huge jagged gash in my cornea from when he got me with that brick. STILL. From like 8 months ago. And overnight it starts to heal and put new cells or whatnot together. Which then sometimes adhere to my eyelid. And then when I first open my eyes in the morning…kabang! I literally rip those shiny new cells right off my cornea. Hence the pain.
And my husband wonders why I hate mornings.
The bad news is that it can take (obviously) a long time to heal. And last night while The Max was thrashing around in a feverish daze, he got me IN THE SAME FREAKING EYE. *sigh* I may start wearing an eye patch. (kidding) (mostly)
In writing-ish news, the copy edit phase is now complete on CAT GIRL’S DAY OFF. Woot! Now it’s the publisher’s turn to go do all their fancy stuff. I’ll get one more look at it in the final proof stage and then…book baby! Probably in April.
Now *that’s* better than a Lego brick to the eye.
Extra Points Opportunity #4 for iPad Giveaway!
Here’s another chance for you to earn extra points/entries towards the iPad I’m giving away at the end of October (and if you haven’t entered already, um, why??)!
The first opportunity (500 points!) was for buying a copy of one of my books during the contest period. The second opportunity (50 points each) was for changing your Facebook and/or Twitter Profile picture. The third opportunity (50 points each) was for posting reviews of either of the Sucks to Be Me books.
This one is SUPER EASY. All you gotta do is read my FREE prelude to the third book, Sucks to Be Moi on either Smashwords OR on my website and leave a comment.
To earn this extra points opportunity you have to:
- Read the short story/prelude (you can read it online either at Smashwords in various formats or right here on my website)
- Leave a review on Smashwords OR a Comment here on my site.
- BONUS: Earn an additional 50 points if you post a link/description to the short story anywhere (your blog, your facebook wall, your twitter, etc.)
- E-mail me at kim at kimberlypauley dot com to let me know what you’ve done so I can verify it. If you also did the bonus (above), let me know too!
- Important! Include your contest username in the email so I know who to award the points to!! And please send it by October 30th to give me time to award the extra points!
And that’s it! You get 50 extra points! Do the bonus and you’ve got 100 extra points right there!
Have an idea for another extra points opportunity? Let me know!
Design my next bookplate and WIN!
So, I ran out of bookplates. Which isn’t a terrible tragedy, as I used to use Avery labels and just make my own whenever I needed more. But I thought that this time it might be nice to get some made and have ‘em all be shiny and new and things like that. You know. I’ve been mucking around with possible ideas (and still have a few), but then I had a BIG idea.
Ninja Max says: "Ideas, they are my favorite!"
Would YOU like to design my next bookplate? And win something cool if your design is chosen? You would, wouldn’t you? C’mon, you know you do.
The Details
What’ll the winner win? An ultra-special copy of Still Sucks to Be Me. A marked up copy. With margin notes from me and little details and snippets and things like that. A one-of-a-kind thing. And signed, of course. And some book swag. And your name up in lights on my website. Okay, maybe not lights. Pixels. (Or, if you’d rather wait until next year, I’ll give you a marked up copy of Cat Girl’s Day Off. Your choice.)
Whaddaya gotta do? Design a bookplate using the specificiations below and email me your design in either jpg or png format by November 15th, 2011.
The Specifications
- Dimensions (for printing) are 90 mm x 55 mm, however this means the artwork should actually be 96mm x 61mm (basically, extra padding around the outside…but if you just do the 90 x 55, that’s fine, I can add the padding).
- 300 dpi (if you don’t know what that means, don’t worry overly much)
- Include (somewhere) my name (Kimberly Pauley) and my URL (www.kimberlypauley.com)
- Preferably, the bookplate would be generic (i.e. not specific to the Sucks to Be Me books or the Cat Girl’s Day Off book) so I can use it for any of my books
- Any images used need to be your own design or you must have permission to use them
- You need to leave space so I can actually, um, sign them and maybe write messages to people (or at least their name)
This is one design I was playing with which is actually based on a fan’s drawing of me from a workshop I gave a few years back. It’s pretty simple. Feedback on Twitter, however, was that “she” (me) looked tired and not very happy. So, um, yeah. Hence this contest…(though if you like it, let me know)
